1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system whereby endoscopic examination is performed using an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,618 discloses an endoscope device arranged such that control can be performed using a centralized control device wherein a monitor, joystick and control buttons of various types are arranged in centralized fashion and arranged such that the endoscope can be easily controlled at a location remote from the main endoscope unit while viewing the monitor screen.
Also, in a fourth embodiment disclosed in Laid-open Japanese Patent publication No. 11-211997 there is disclosed an endoscope image observation device constituted by combining a control box and a personal computer.
However, the endoscope device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,618 is of very high cost, since the centralized control device is a special-purpose device used for its purpose. Furthermore it is of large size and considerable weight owing to the provision of a joystick and a large number of control buttons. It is therefore very inconvenient to move the centralized control device to a desired location where examination is to be performed.
Furthermore, although in recent years it has become common to save observation images obtained from an endoscope on a computer, with such an endoscope, a computer for this purpose must be separately provided and an operation of transferring the image data from the endoscope to the computer must be performed.
On the other hand, while the fourth embodiment of Laid-open Japanese Patent publication No. 11-211997 solves some of the above problems, it is of very high cost, since the control box is a special-purpose device used for its purpose.